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tv   ABC World News Tonight With David Muir  ABC  March 3, 2023 5:30pm-6:00pm PST

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tonight, the abc news ex tonight, the abc news exclusive. the juror inside that room as the jury found alex murdaugh guilty. what it was that he says sealed murdaugh's fate. also tonight, the storms headed into the northeast at this hour. the tornados and straight-line winds already. we'll time this out. first tonight, the new image of alex murdaugh just in tonight, sentenced to life in prison now. and tonight hear that exclusive interview, one of the jurors taking us inside the deliberations. how many thought he was guilty, how many not guilty, and how they came to a consensus so quickly. and alex murdaugh addressing the judge today, saying, i'm innocent, and what the judge said back to him. eva pilgrim just back from the courthouse right here with us tonight. ose powerful storms sweeping through the south into the northeast at this hour. a tornado watch now in effect
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across several states. a confirmed ef-2 tornado already, winds up to 135 miles per hour. what to expect tonight in atlanta up through washington, philadelphia, new york to boston. rob marciano timing it all out. the remarkable images coming in from parts of california tonight -- families lined up for food. the community writing in the snow, help us. the state of emergency and how long it could take to get to them. the white house doctor tonight revealing a small skin lesion removed from president biden's chest was skin cancer. mary bruce standing by at the white house. the heated confrontation during a town hall in east palestine, ohio. residents face-to-face with the company that owns that train. president biden with the german chancellor at the white house tonight, united on ukraine. while overseas tonight, the laughter in the room after what vladimir putin's top diplomat claimed, and you'll hear it. back in the u.s. tonight, the family outside salt lake
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city demanding answers after their son, a college graduate studying law, was shot and killed during a police stop. five officers on administrative leave tonight. in turkey, the remarkable moment you have to see, the dog saved after 23 days trapped after that earthquake. and the vietnam veteran, he waited nearly 60 years. he was told the army lost his paperwork. the war hero and the moment today, the honor. our person of the week. good evening, and it's great to have you with us as we near the end of another week together. we begin tonight with the abc news exclusive, the juror in that room. what it was that he says sealed alex murdaugh's fate. the once prominent south carolina attorney found guilty of murdering his wife and son, tonight sentenced to life in
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prison by that judge today. tonight, just in, this new mug shot. police releasing the photo of richard alexander murdaugh. tonight, what he said to the judge today, and what the judge said back to him. eva pilgrim is just back from the courthouse. tonight her exclusive interview with that juror as alex murdaugh is sent to prison for life. >> reporter: with his hands and feet shackled, lex murdaugh back in the courtroom to be sentenced for the grisly murders of his wife and son, but the convicted killer first proclaiming his innocence. >> i'm innocent. i would never hurt my wife, maggie, and i would never hurt my son, pawpaw. >> reporter: the judge having none of it. >> it's so unfortunate, because you had such a lovely family. >> reporter: saying it was heartbreaking to see the lawyer he knew personally go from grieving husband and father to the man guilty of their murders. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you are attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. i'm sure.
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>> all day and every night. >> yeah, i'm sure. and they will continue to do so. and -- and reflect on the last time they looked you in the eyes. >> reporter: and given one last chance, alex murdaugh refusing to confess. >> judge, i'll tell you again, i respect this court, but i'm innocent. >> and it might not have been you. it might have been the monster you become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills. maybe you become another person. >> reporter: the judge then handing down his sentence. >> in the murder of your wife, maggie murdaugh, i sentence you for the term of the rest of your natural life. for the murder of paul murdaugh, whom you probably loved so much, i sentence you to prison for
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murdering him, for the rest of your natural life. >> reporter: murdaugh's surviving son buster and his brother looking on as he was led away. inside the courtroom, juror craig moyer, who revealed to abc news in an exclusive interview how the jury reached its decision. when you first got in the room you took a vote. what was the vote? >> it was two not guilty, one not sure, and nine guilty. >> reporter: what was your vote? >> guilty. >> reporter: moyer saying it took less than an hour of deliberations for the jury to agree. >> probably about 45, maybe an hour. >> reporter: that's really fast. >> well, the evidence was clear. >> reporter: that juror telling me the key piece of evidence was the video with murdaugh's own voice, along with his wife and son, placing him at the scene of the crime. >> hey, he's got a bird in his mouth! >> bubba! >> he was there at the dog kennel video, which was right before the murders or right
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before all the activity on the phones went off. >> reporter: son paul murdaugh, who filmed that video minutes before his death, in the end helping to convict his own father. alex finally admitting on the stand he was there that night. >> reporter: when he said it was him, were you surprised? > i was very surprised. >> reporter: the defense said there was no way he could've done all these things, clean everything up, get it all ready, and then go to his mom's and get back in that short amount of time. >> i think there's just enough time. >> reporter: moyer, who was sitting just steps from murdaugh on the stand, was unmoved by moments like this. what did you think when alex murdaugh took the stand? >> i didn't think much of him. i didn't see any true remorse or any compassion or anything. >> reporter: even though he cried a lot on the stand. >> he never cried. >> reporter: he never cried. what do you mean by that? >> all he did was blow snot.
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>> reporter: did you not see tears? >> no tears. >> reporter: how did you know he wasn't crying? >> because i saw his eyes. i was this close to him. >> reporter: did you feel like he was a liar? >> i did. a good liar. but not good enough. >> not good enough. eva pilgrim back with us in new york back from the courthouse tonight. excellent interview. we know murdaugh will spend the rest of his life in prison. he still faces charges for nearly 100 financial crimes. i want to ask eva about the other cases, these other deaths the community is still investigating. >> there is a long list of unanswered questions. we heard on the stand from the son of gloria satterfield, the family's long time housekeeper who died in a trip and fall. in 2015, steven smith, one of buster's classmates died, it was called a hit and run. and authorities are looking into both of those cases. and of course mallory beach was killed in a boat crash involving
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his dead son paul. that case involving a key role in this trial. murdaugh is still facing a lwsuit for the boat crash even with this verdict. >> i have to ask you about the two jurors who were not guilty initially. how did they convince them so quickly in deliberations? >> he said they looked at the time line and then played the video. >> the video with the kennel with murdaugh's own voice. >> mm-hmm. >> eva pilgrim, excellent reporting for weeks and weeks. thank you. we should note eva and the entire "20/20" team has been working on a two-hour "20/20" special that dives into all these unanswered questions. the history of the murdaugh family, what led to this and the other cases generating headlines along the way. the all new "20/20," what led up to that awful day. the murdaugh family murders, 9:00 p.m. eastern tonight, 8:00 central right here on abc. eva, i'll see you later for "20/20." in the meantime, we continue
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with the other news, this major storm moving from the south into the east. atlanta, washington, d.c., philadelphia, new york, boston all in the path. at least seven reported tornadoes already across the south in the past 24 hours. this funnel cloud from salina, texas. in brock, texas, a large piece of metal caught on surveillance crashing into a house. in kirby, arkansas, damage after a confirmed ef-2 tornado. that's winds as high as 135 miles on hour. that storm heading east. damaging winds in huntsville, alabama. and all of this moves north tonight and into tomorrow. senior meteorologist rob marciano with the images and track of this storm going into tonight. >> reporter: tonight, those powerful storms continuing a path of destruction across the south and now pushing north and east. tornado warnings near atlanta this afternoon. >> i'm talking to you when i say you need to seek shelter and you need to do it now. >> reporter: torrential rain hammering huntsville, alabama, this morning. overnight, a confirmed tornado touching down in shreveport, louisiana, churning up debris,
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tearing through trees and homes. power lines exploding in texas. [ screams ] >> oh, my god! >> reporter: straight-line winds up to 80 miles an hour, rolling tractor-trailers near dallas and flipping boats at this marina in lewisville. drivers taking cover from golf-ball sized hail. the system strengthening as darkness fell. tough night here in kirby, arkansas. this is one of at least 20 homes badly damaged or completely destroyed. look at this 2x6 piece of wood here impaling this windshield. this was probably a tornado, but it came in the middle of the night, so we're not sure. either way, a widespread damaging wind event across the mid-south. the national weather service now confirming it was a tornado with ef-2 winds possibly up to 135 miles an hour. the severe threat continuing through tonight. >> just incredible images. let's get right to rob tonight as this heads north. rob, take us through it. >> reporter: so much wind energy with this, david.
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it will start to weaken, but turn wintry tonight. we still have a couple more hours of a tornado threat across the south. you see the line across greenville and atlanta. snow about to get heavy in detroit, moving through pennsylvania and upstate new york as well, and a mix of snow and rain in the morning hours, new york city and i-95 corridor. much like the last one, will be mostly rain with wet snow in boston. inland areas, i think some spots could get over a foot of snow, ending tomorrow night. meanwhile, the next storm, believe it or not, coming into the west. this is going to slam california with more debilitating mountain snow. this is not what that state needs right now. david? >> rob marciano, just back to new york with us tonight. excellent reporting all week long. thank you. this system moving north started in the west as well, and there is a remarkable scene still playing out in san bernardino county, families cut off for days in the snow. officials struggling to re-open roads. the national guard flying in,
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promising to help get people out. look at this tonight -- families write in the snow, help us. this is in the lake gregory area. people waiting in long lines at a food distribution line in crestline for so many after a treacherous drive just to get there. demarco morgan made his way there, too. he's in crestline tonight. >> reporter: that desperate plea written in the snow "help us." tonight, an all-out desperate effort to free families, some trapped more than a week in san bernardino county. >> the roads are being cleared. there are snowplows everywhere. and you are going to see direct relief coming to your doorstep shortly. >> reporter: we saw that first responders firsthand in crestline. these first responders with cal fire have been working overnight to make roads like this one accessible. in this a case, they're trying to help the gentleman in this house get his car out to see his mother in the hospital. >> reporter: cassidy and kasie ringhofer have been trying to dig out of their home in crestline for more than a week. you can see kasie's baby on her back as she shovels. >> a few days ago, we were standing on top of our cars shoveling them out, but our road
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is too packed in to even leave at this point. >> reporter: they are helping miesearby who have rented ais ag rungn the snowy conditions, dragging hoses over massive snowbanks, fighting multiple house fires caused by leaking gas lines. officials responding to 1,200 calls for help, removing enough snow to fill the empire state building twice. david, this is the grocery store where that roof collapsed. all day volunteers handing out food and much needed supplies. officials say it could take a week if not more to reach all the impacted areas hit by snow. >> thank you, and good to have you on "world news", too. tonight.urn to president biden - the white house reporting the president had a small skin lesion removed from his chest, and today they revealed it was skin cancer, basal cell carcino.
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>> reporter: the white house tonight revealing a small skin lesion removed from president biden's chest last month was the most common form of skin cancer called a basal cell carcinoma. his doctor saying all cancerous tissue was successfully removed and that no further treatment i. >> basal cell carcinoma when its excised appropriately should be 100% cured. >> reporter: this kind of cancer is often caused by sun exposure. biden's doctor has previously noted the president did spend a good deal of time in the sun in his youth. it comes just weeks after the first lady had the same kind of cancerous tissue removed from her chest and face. >> i am so lucky that they caught it, they removed it, and i'm healthy. >> reporter: the president's doctor says the site of the lesion on the president's chest has healed nicely and that biden will continue to receive regular skin screenings as part of his routine health care. david? >> mary, thanks so much. we're going to turn to new fallout from the toxic train derailment. the residents coming
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face-to-face with the company of that train. mona kosar abdi in ohio tonight. >> don't lie to us. >> reporter: angry residents of east palestine, ohio, confronting government and company officials in a heated town hall. >> are you proud of that?! >> reporter: left with still so many unanswered questions a month after that devastating train derailment. >> i want you to tell me why everybody in my community is getting sick. >> reporter: community members lining up to report concerns about their health and their livelihoods. >> this has touched me on every level. >> we are sorry. we're very sorry. >> should have got it right the first time! >> reporter: the epa now ordering the company to begin testing for dioxins, an environmental pollutant that can form during the combustion of vinyl chloride, the dangerous chemical released in the controlled burn after the derailment. dioxins are highly toxic and can cause cancer and other health problems. they also take a long time to break down once they are in the environment. >> we will direct the company to
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conduct immediate cleanup if contaminants from the derailment are found in levels that jeopardize people's health. >> reporter: today, abc affiliate wews was on site as the company began to remove rail from the location of the accident, digging out and sampling the contaminated soil underneath as part of their massive cleanup. david, norfolk southern warns that the track work may cause more odor in the area. 11 monitors have been set up to continue to test the air quality here, and so far the epa says they have not found any evidence of dioxin exposure. >> mona, thank you. now to vladimir putin's top diplomat and what he declared today to laughter in the room. president biden meantime at the white house united on ukraine with germany's chancellor. james longman from ukraine. >> reporter: tonight, president biden hosting german chancellor olaf scholz at the white house, thanking him for his support of ukraine. it comes as russian foreign
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minister lavrov, in india for a g20 meeting, was openly laughed at for making these claims. >> the war, which we are trying to stop and which was launched against us using the ukraine -- [ laughter ] >> reporter: the room filled with international diplomats and dignitaries. but on the battlefield in eastern ukraine, the situation couldn't be more serious. hi. we meet the commander of ukraine's largest tank brigade at his battlefield headquarters. so, i'm being shown a live stream of the battle situation right now here on this computer. they've got this map up with battle lines drawn through the east where we are now. red planes for enemy aircraft, yellow ones for unidentified, and green for their own. [ speaking non-english ] the commander tells me, "we hope to have new tanks before russia moves in, because if they start their new offensive, it may be too late." there's been a renewed focus on war crimes, david. u.s. attorney general merrick garland made a surprise visit today, part of a group of prosecutors from around the world here to discuss russian
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atrocities. david? >> james longman in ukraine again tonight. when we come back, the family outside salt lake city demanding answers after their son, a law student, was shot and killed during a traffic stop. moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. and, they felt dramatic and fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin cancer, death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least one heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq,
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authorities say allen allegedly refusing to get off his car. authorities say there was a confrontation when additional officers tried to force him out. that's when shots were fired. allen was still in the car when killed. family says up to 12 shots fired. family believes he was terrified for his safety. five officers have been placed on administrative leave. when we come back here tonight, the remarkable rescue. you have to see the dog after 23 days trapped in that earthquake. if your moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms are stopping you in your tracks... choose stelara® from the start... and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections every two months. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions
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finally tonight here, he is a vietnam veteran, a war hero, and tonight, the honor long overdue, our person of the week. you met him last night right here, retired army colonel paris davis. a vietnam war veteran, a hero. davis, one of the first black officers in the special forces, just 26 and a captain when his unit came under fire in north vietnam in 1965. despite being shot multiple times himself, davis refused to leave the battlefield until all of his men were safe. >> i was spending most of my time just trying to keep us alive and keep them off of us. >> reporter: his superiors would nominate him for the medal of honor, but he was told the army lost his paperwork not once but twice.
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at the white house today, 57 years later, the president praising his bravery and patience. >> he never lost faith. he never stopped believing in the founding vision of our nation. >> reporter: president biden presenting the medal of honor to colonel davis. [ applause ] >> reporter: and this is what he told us about receiving the honor nearly six decades later. >> you feel pleased that you served your country in the way that you thought you would serve your country. america becomes profoundly your -- your flag that you carry around. i'm extremely excited and pleased and thankful. >> and we salute colonel davis right here as well. i'm david muir.
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case against a soft spot accused of blowing up pg&e equipment. >> kamala harris talking her past and future. insight about her visit from jackie speier. >> we have more rain and snow coming over the next few days. keep the umbrellas ready. video parts from tests and police surveillance. it is all part of a case that came together against a san jose man accused of blowing up pg&e equipment.
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appearance in court today. they suspected him of being behind explosions up to pg&e transformers. reporter: this massive response formed around this home, it is selective. agencies continued to come through the home san jose say had explosive material. >> we were expecting to be out at the scene for a few more days. reporter: police said this is the man who had that explosive material at his home. 36-year-old peter karasev. called to a block on snell avenue of reports of a damaged transformer.